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Just ordered the 58A550 and ETA is May 9th. I was seriously considering the 6010 or the new 60in Pioneer plasmas but I couldn't wait and now was on a budget. I got the Samsung at a great price and have enough money left over for BIC Acoustech sound system and a Blu-Ray player. Will take pics as soon as I get it.

i am watching the blue jays game on ontario rogers sportsnet HD and i notice every now and then some juddering. it looks like a quick little flick ... has anyone else noticied this? does this have something to do with 24 fps?

Is the lack of 24p capability on this that big of a deal when watching BD? I'm new here and just curious if I should look for something that will.

I thought there was 24p? Or at least a 2:3 pulldown Film Mode, which seems to work quite well in my limited experience.

Question:

Is there any way to get PIP to work if your digital cable PVR is connected through HDMI? I can cycle the PIP source between Cable (TV) and Sky, but both are snow. I can't seem to select the HDMI source. Any thoughts?

I'm ordering the PN50A550 today. It seems that there are different opinions on whether or not breaking in the TV (ie contrast 50, settings turned down, etc) for the first 100 hours is necessary. So I think I will break in, but only turn the contrast down when running the break in DVD and turn it up for normal viewing (and watching full screen TV). Any thoughts on this?

I thought there was 24p? Or at least a 2:3 pulldown Film Mode, which seems to work quite well in my limited experience.

here is my experience with 24fp on the Sammy:

I set my PS3 to 24hz on and the Sammy detected it accordingly. The Film Mode on the Sammy was greyed out so could not set it. I played the first major fight scene in Spiderman 3 and the frame rate was overall very fluid.

I then set the PS3 to not play 24hz and the Sammy detected as 60hz. The Film mode was still greyed out. This time the action definitely seemed 'blurry'.

I would therefore surmise based on my test that the Sammy is detecting 24hz and converting accordingly.

I induced IR by displaying a letterbox 4:3 image so there were gray side bars and black bars above and below the image. Let the display run this way for 90 minutes or so. Confirmed with a black screen that there was obvious IR (there was - just like EVERY A550 panel, I've checked 12 of them now and they ALL have IR to exactly the same degree so people who aren't seeing it either don't know what to look for or they are in denial). The object of this was to see if IR disappears overnight with the TV turned off.

I did turn the TV off after confirming what the IR looked like. I did not turn the TV on again for more than 12 hours. The IR was exactly the same as I when I turned it off the previous night.

The next test was to see whether a black screen dissipates IR as well as a white screen or the scrolling eraser pattern... I have to say a black screen DOES remove IR almost as well as all-white or the scrolling eraser. Must be something about the cells being "activated" that knocks down the IR. In an hour or so of sending a 0% white test pattern to the A550, the IR was gone. So IR doesn't disappear with the TV off, but a black screen does eliminate IR over time - and it uses a lot less electricity doing so than the all-white screen or the scrolling eraser. How fast is IR eliminatd? By 20-30 minutes you had to look real hard to see it on a black screen, and it was invisible with moving images covering the entire screeen. By 1 hour or so, I couldn't find it on the black screen any more.

I've seen "no image retention" before... on a Pioneer Kuro... and these panels (and every other brand) are NOT in the same league with the Pioneer Kuros re. image retention. That said, this amount of IR is not a terrible thing - though I find myself distractedly looking for it all the time after a movie or 4:3 programming. So I wish there wasn't any IR, but it doesn't interfere with viewing in any significant way. And if it is visible, after 20 minutes or so, it has abated to the extent only a true obsessive would be able to find it. The only time I've seen it for more than 20 minuted was when the disc menu image was retained and the movie itself was 2.0:1 format with black bars top and bottom... I could see retained image from the disc menu in the black bars for about an hour, but I think that's about the worst it will ever be and it didn't really affect watching the movie as long as I didn't look closely at the black bars trying to find the IR.

I decided to trade in my HLT5687SAX for this model and it should be arriving next week. Question...have any of you noticed any significant increase in your power bill after using a plasma?

From the CNet numbers, it is pulling on average around 400W of power, 1.2 W (which I still don't believe) during standby. Honestly, if you leave 4 lamps on at home in the evening, this is about the same power draw. You shouldn't see much of a change, 1 - 2 $ max a month. Most people (including myself) who dropped $2000 + on this set, the last thing we are concerned about is the power draw. Now the Hot Tub in the back yard with 2 - 3 1/2 HP motors and 5.5KW heater and 3 1/2 ton heat pump, thats taking the juice in my house!

I induced IR by displaying a letterbox 4:3 image so there were gray side bars and black bars above and below the image. Let the display run this way for 90 minutes or so. Confirmed with a black screen that there was obvious IR (there was - just like EVERY A550 panel, I've checked 12 of them now and they ALL have IR to exactly the same degree so people who aren't seeing it either don't know what to look for or they are in denial). The object of this was to see if IR disappears overnight with the TV turned off.

I did turn the TV off after confirming what the IR looked like. I did not turn the TV on again for more than 12 hours. The IR was exactly the same as I when I turned it off the previous night.

The next test was to see whether a black screen dissipates IR as well as a white screen or the scrolling eraser pattern... I have to say a black screen DOES remove IR almost as well as all-white or the scrolling eraser. Must be something about the cells being "activated" that knocks down the IR. In an hour or so of sending a 0% white test pattern to the A550, the IR was gone. So IR doesn't disappear with the TV off, but a black screen does eliminate IR over time - and it uses a lot less electricity doing so than the all-white screen or the scrolling eraser. How fast is IR eliminatd? By 20-30 minutes you had to look real hard to see it on a black screen, and it was invisible with moving images covering the entire screeen. By 1 hour or so, I couldn't find it on the black screen any more.

I've seen "no image retention" before... on a Pioneer Kuro... and these panels (and every other brand) are NOT in the same league with the Pioneer Kuros re. image retention. That said, this amount of IR is not a terrible thing - though I find myself distractedly looking for it all the time after a movie or 4:3 programming. So I wish there wasn't any IR, but it doesn't interfere with viewing in any significant way. And if it is visible, after 20 minutes or so, it has abated to the extent only a true obsessive would be able to find it. The only time I've seen it for more than 20 minuted was when the disc menu image was retained and the movie itself was 2.0:1 format with black bars top and bottom... I could see retained image from the disc menu in the black bars for about an hour, but I think that's about the worst it will ever be and it didn't really affect watching the movie as long as I didn't look closely at the black bars trying to find the IR.

I think almost everyone who posted recently regarding IR has acknowledged it is visible on an all black screen, but generally describe IR experience with respect to moving images on the TV. Once again I am new to plasmas and have to ask: does it really matter if IR is visible on an all black screen? I am not asking to be a jerk, but because I don't understand the significance of IR when it is undetectable under normal viewing circumstances.

Also, please stop posting IR experience regarding the Pioneer Kuros, you have stated NUMEROUS times that the Kuro is superior in this respect (and others) to the Samsung and does not need to be repeated on almost every thread page. Anyone seeking information regarding Kuro IR experience will likely go to a Pioneer thread, not a Samsung owner's thread, so stating your observation once should suffice.

I don't think anyone is arguing that the Sammy is superior to the Kuro in any way ... except maybe color accuracy and noise reduction. In terms of black levels, processing, anti-glare and what have you, the Pioneer wins out and we all know it. =) Fact is, you pay for that excellence, and many of us are unable and/or unwilling to shell out for it. Does this mean we "settled" for an inferior product? Maybe, if you remove cost from the equation. But in terms of sheer price/performance ratio, I chose (and would choose again) the Samsung pn50a550 over the Pioneer 5080.

To make a potentially long discussion short - for those of you wondering if the Pioneer 5080 is worth the extra coin ... that all depends how strapped for cash you are. If a $700+ difference won't break your bank, then sure, spring for the Pio. It's basically the best 50" plasma television you can own at the moment. It surpasses (to some extent) the Sammy a550 in every aspect save color accuracy and noise reduction. Still, I chose the Samsung based purely on a price to performance dollar ratio. I (personally) do not consider the Pio to be $700 better.

I don't think anyone is arguing that the Sammy is superior to the Kuro in any way ... except maybe color accuracy and noise reduction. In terms of black levels, processing, anti-glare and what have you, the Pioneer wins out and we all know it. =) Fact is, you pay for that excellence, and many of us are unable and/or unwilling to shell out for it. Does this mean we "settled" for an inferior product? Maybe, if you remove cost from the equation. But in terms of sheer price/performance ratio, I chose (and would choose again) the Samsung pn50a550 over the Pioneer 5080.

To make a potentially long discussion short - for those of you wondering if the Pioneer 5080 is worth the extra coin ... that all depends how strapped for cash you are. If a $700+ difference won't break your bank, then sure, spring for the Pio. It's basically the best 50" plasma television you can own at the moment. It surpasses (to some extent) the Sammy a550 in every aspect save color accuracy and noise reduction. Still, I chose the Samsung based purely on a price to performance dollar ratio. I (personally) do not consider the Pio to be $700 better.

I was agreeing with you. Repeatedly trumpeting the glories of Pioneer in a Samsung owners thread is a tad unnecessary, unless someone starts spouting blatant untruths meant to mislead other forum goers (ex. the Samsung has far superior black levels when compared to the Pio).

To be fair, maxb was simply answering a question someone had posted in this thread. But I do understand your statement.

I was agreeing with you. Repeatedly trumpeting the glories of Pioneer in a Samsung owners thread is a tad unnecessary, unless someone starts spouting blatant untruths meant to mislead other forum goers (ex. the Samsung has far superior black levels when compared to the Pio).

To be fair, maxb was simply answering a question someone had posted in this thread. But I do understand your statement.

Ok I was confused by your first sentence.

Maxb was answering a question regarding IR and the Samsung, but has said numerous times previously that the Pioneer is better regarding IR and in other aspects as well. At this point, it should be understood that the Pioneer is better regarding IR and does not need to be repeated. It would be annoying if everytime IR is discussed in this thread the Pioneer's superiority is reiterated

I set my PS3 to 24hz on and the Sammy detected it accordingly. The Film Mode on the Sammy was greyed out so could not set it. I played the first major fight scene in Spiderman 3 and the frame rate was overall very fluid.

I then set the PS3 to not play 24hz and the Sammy detected as 60hz. The Film mode was still greyed out. This time the action definitely seemed 'blurry'.

I would therefore surmise based on my test that the Sammy is detecting 24hz and converting accordingly.

Too bad there is not a test to tell if the TV is converting the 24p to 60 frames (2:3) or displaying some multiple of 24 (48hz, 72hz, etc.)

I too was wondering about this since the sticker that comes on the TV says "REAL 1080p24". They could just mean it accepts a 24p signal - but since you are seeing a difference maybe it does do a multple if the input is 24p. You are outputing a progressive signal with the PS3 at 60hz, correct?

I don't think this TV can recognized a 2:3 cadence in progressive material and convert to a 24hz-multiple; which is what I think Pioneers, some Panasonics, and SOME 120hz LCD's do.

I had some problems with my 58a550.
Last night I came home and turned it on, and immediatelly heard the dreaded buzz! Left the TV on for 5 hours, and the buzz did not go away for a second.
Then I turned the TV off.
Then I turned the TV back on. NO BUZZ! But another problem: the TV was using the cable box source outputting at 1080i. There was sound but NO PICTURE! I switched around the sources in the TV, I tried changing channels on the cable box, but it was still not showing the picture. It took another off/on cycle to get the picture.
The buzz however went away, and did not come back for the next hour I kept the TV on.